Geniza Lab

Letter from ʿImrān b. Yehuda to Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm/Avraham b. Natan he-ḥaver. The sender had heard that the addressee had had a child (mawlūd) and congratulates him and wishes to hear more details. (He clearly did not even know if it was a boy or a girl). (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Letter (fragment) by Shelomo b. Yehuda written in his own hand (Gil); 1041.

A Karaite (specifically Tustari) post festum calendar listing the dates of the new moons (by observation) for the years 1357–59 Seleucid, corresponding to 1045–48 CE. Edited by Gil in his book on the Tustaris. Cf. T-S NS J609, a similar calendar from ~5 years later. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card)

Marriage contract (ketubba) in the Palestinian style. Location: Tyre. Dated: August 1079 CE. In the hand of the ḥaver ʿAmram b. Ṣedaqa (see also T-S AS 150.230, T-S 16.136, T-S AS 156.394, and T-S AS 150.230). Edited by both Gil and Friedman.

Recto: Petition or very formal letter in Arabic script. Unclear if or how it is related to verso. Begins, "al-ḥaḍra al-āliya al-jalīla...." Needs examination for content.

Verso: Letter addressed to the parnas ʿEli b. Yaḥyā ha-Kohen ha-Shofeṭ. Fragment (right side only). The sender may be asking for help of some kind. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.)

Legal document. Small fragment of a decorated ketubba. Fustat. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Left lower corner of a will from Fustat. The elder daughter is in charge of the partitioning of the house. The dying man says that his Sabbath robe and Sabbath mantle are good enough and there is no need to buy new 'shrouds'. Dated Adar 1361/ February 1050.

Bill of divorce for a certain Na'ama, signed by Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq and Eli Hakohen b, Nahor

Letter addressed to a dignitary (Sar) offering congratulations on the holidays. The sender had sent a messenger, who had not found the addressee at home, so he now sends a letter instead. Note that "yeshaʿ yiqrav" at the bottom is not the sender's name but rather a motto. Gil identifies the sender (on the basis of handwriting) as Natan b. Avraham and the addressee (perhaps on the basis of his titles) as Avraham Ha-Kohen b. Yiṣḥaq b. Furat. Gil further speculates that it was sent between Purim and Passover, in the spring of 1039 CE. (Information from Gil and from Goitein’s index card)

Legal document. The elders of the community orchestrate a settlement concerning the companies of grave diggers (aḥzāb al-ḥaffārīn). One is led by Wusayd b. ʿUqayb ("little lion son of little eagle”). Written and signed by the cantor [Yefet?] b. David b. Shekhanya. See Mediterranean Society, X, A, 3, note 221. (Information from Goitein’s index card.)

Record in a court notebook. Written and signed by Mevorakh b. Natan. Two complementary fragments, not providing a complete document. A venture on behalf of an orphan named Abū l-Ghayth, undertaken by Abū l-Maʿālī Shemuel b. Asad together with his son ʿEli. The orphan had reached maturity, but was not yet regarded by the court as able to manage his estate. An amount of 56.5 dinars was entrusted to Shemuel and his son, who stood security with their own possessions (in Minyat Zifta Jawād(?)), real estate and movables. The document itself is dated 147[5] Seleucid, which is 1164 CE, under the authority of the Head of the Jews the Gaon Netanel ha-Levi. Following the end of the document (after Mevorakh's elaborate signature in ENA 4011.23), there are multiple addenda in which the orphan confirms sums received. The note in the margin states that he received one payment of 8 dinars in Shevaṭ 1478 Seleucid, which is December 1166 / January 1167 CE. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, III, 296, 492.) NB: Goitein refers to ENA 4011.23 as ENA 4011.22. To add to the confusion, the current ENA 4011.22 is an unrelated legal document also in the hand of Mevorakh b. Natan.

Court record written by Efrayim b. Shemarya. Sitt al-Dār bt. Ḥusayn, the wife of Khalaf b. Isḥāq, claims from her husband 10 dinars given to him as a loan. Her husband claims that they agreed that she would get the money only in case of a divorce. Bishr b. Efrayim represents Sitt al-Dār in this lawsuit. (Information from E. Bareket, Yehudei misrayim, p. 185)

Legal document signed by Shemuel ka-Kohen b. Avtalion, Avraham b. Mevasser, Hisdai b. Natan the parnas, and Shabbat b. Nusayr. Shemuel b. Avtalion was active in Fustat from ca. 1007 to 1055.

Court record written by Shemuel b. Avtalion, dealing with a dispute between Yeshua ha-Kohen b. Ghulayb and Yoshiyya b. Maimon. Signed by Avraham b. Mevasser, Hisdai b. Natan and Shabbat b. Nusayr. Dated Av 1339/ August 1028. (Information from E. Bareket Shafrir misrayim, p. 268)

Court record written by Shemuʾel b. Avtalion, dealing with a dispute between Yeshua ha-Kohen b. Ghulayb and Yoshia b. Maimon,1028(FGP)

Small fragment from the validation (qiyyum) of a legal document. Mentions the names Yaʿaqov b. Yosef and Avraham b. Yaʿīsh ha-Kohen.

Fragment from the end of a legal document. In Hebrew. In the hand of Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya (per Goitein's index card #6774). Dated: [13]57 Seleucid, which is 1045/46 CE. Signed by ʿEli b. ʿAmram ha-Levi and Shemarya b. A[…] ha-Levi. Both signatures are written by the scribe of the document, which might suggest that this was a copy kept in the court. On ʿEli b. ʿAmram, see א. ברקת ״החבר המעולה״ או ״הבוגד המעולה״:מנהיג שנוי במחלוקת עלי בן עמרם, ראש קהל הירושלמיים בפסטאט במחצית השנייה של המאה האחת־עשרה, AJS Review, Vol. 23, No. 2 (1998), pp. 1-27.) AA

Letter from the congregation of Tripoli, Lebanon, to Hesed b. Sahl. Synagogues in other places have been returned to the Jews, but in the writer's town the synagogue was turned into a mosque. See also PGPID 767 (Gil's edition of the same document). Verso has Hebrew poems.

Letter from the community of Tripoli (Lebanon) to Hesed Ha-Tustari. 1025. See also PGPID 766.